1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of tactile symbols that can be recognized by the blind or the visually impaired by tracing with their fingertips, and is directed particularly to symbols for identifying color.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of a series of raised dots impressed in paper or other media to form symbols for the individual letters of the Roman alphabet and the conventional arabic numerals has been in existence as the Braille system since the early 19th Century. Each single letter, or numeral, is represented in a matrix of six dots, three dots high by two dots wide which is defined as a cell. Extra codes are often necessary to identify capitals or the fact that the cell following is actually a number instead of a letter as the numerals 1 through 9 plus 0 use the same code as the letters A through J.
Many modifications to the Braille system and alternative systems have been patented in attempts to improve the Braille system. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,339 to Place discloses a newly defined Braille cell structure, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,197,889 to Micropoulou discloses an alternative tactile code utilizing a four projection cell to identify the thirteen most used consonants; however, the remaining thirteen letters require a second box of four projections. U.S. Pat. No. 3,718,991 to Kafafian discloses a new cell arrangement which utilizes a reference symbol to aid the reader in maintaining his place and orientation as he reads the symbols.
These aforementioned patents, however, do not provide any tactile symbols for the identification of color other than, of course, the use of the appropriate letter symbols to spell out the word signifying a color.
A patent to Wills, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,764, discloses the use of Braille on picture cards which identify in word form the depictions on the card. For example, if a sail boat were pictured, the Braille symbols for sail boat would be raised on the card at the location of the pictured sail boat. This patent does not claim or disclose the use of symbols for color other than the Braille letters spelling a color.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,421, issued to Anczurowski discloses the use of crosshatching, which may be either raised using the xerographic process or embossed on a substrate, to identify color. A first color may be represented by a series of horizontal lines, a second color will be a series of parallel lines angled at 60.degree. and 120.degree. with the lines of the first primary color. A third primary color will be represented by a third series of parallel lines oriented so that it maintains a 60.degree. or 120.degree. angle with both the first and the second series of lines. Combining the symbols for two or more of the colors would present a symbol comprising crosshatched lines to represent a new color, the new color formed by mixing the colors represented by the symbols together.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,108 to Chepaitis disclose a tactile code for the alphabet and for numerals. The embossed symbols utilize raised circular and square frames surrounding additional raised areas which depict a physical association with the letters or numbers they represent. The patent does not claim or disclose symbols for colors and may represent colors only by spelling the appropriate word.
Color is widely used within our language as a means of communicating not only the colors of objects but as coding on maps, charts and other visual displays. Color is an important aspect in communicating to and with the blind or visually impaired. There is a need for simple unitary symbols which may be applied on everything from maps to clothing. There is also a need for such symbols that may be embossed on photographs to provide shape, form and color to the pictured elements. A crosshatching system would dominate such photographs losing the shape and form of the photographic elements.